EX-Frome College maths teacher, Chris Curtis, has launched his own board game, Prometheus, which was even played by Boris Johnson as he recovered from Covid!
Chris, who invented the game over seven years ago said, “When I heard that Boris had Covid and was playing Sudoku to keep his mind active, I thought Prometheus would be even better. I got a letter of thanks for the Prometheus gift that helped him through his recovery of Covid.
“Prometheus is an innovative and exciting strategy game that appeals to people of all ages. The game is easy to play and similar to chess, but more dynamic. It involves a variety of different shaped board pieces, with the objective of capturing the sphere of your opponent.
“Knowing that Prometheus now takes pride of place at Number 10 Downing Street of course is marvellous, but knowing that the game is and will continue to be played and enjoyed across the world is the dream come true.”
Chris spoke to the Frome Times about his journey from Frome College, where he was head of maths for more than 25 years, to entrepreneur, aiming to develop a game to rival the most popular board games.
Whilst working at Frome College, Chris was tasked with designing a creative work for the college’s new combined arts and maths building. He was in touch with the late artist, John Robinson, who agreed to construct a piece for Frome College – a five-foot Prometheus flame.
“Prometheus came to me in a dream over seven years ago after the commissioning of the Prometheus sculpture at Frome College,” said Chris.
“I just started to develop the idea and I caught myself saying, ‘I might actually have something here’. I wanted to create something more fun than chess and I think this is it.
“I am proud to be launching a game into the mainstream that brings people together in a way computer games cannot.”
Chris held a successful fundraising Prometheus evening last week in Bradford-on-Avon, raising over £500 for Breast Cancer Now, where people had a chance to try out the new game. He is now hoping to take his game to the next level by hoping to get interest from some of the country’s bigger retailers.
He explained, “What we need to do now is get some large orders in from the likes of John Lewis and Harrods. We’re just hoping to get a big order in to get us to that next level.
“I’ve always felt that if you’re passionate about something and you believe in it and put the hours in, you can eventually get what you want. This feels like evidence of that.”
The Prometheus board game can be purchased from www.prometheusconcept.com
